It is month 3 of my book club and it is so much fun!
A little background if you don't remember my kick off post in July, a group bloggers organized by Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla (click the link if you want to join the fun!) draw inspiration from a book and recipes published in The Book Club Cookbook. Each month, a blogger selected a book and The Book Club Cookbook offers several suggested recipes or the blogger can create a recipe inspired by the story. At the end of the month the host or hostess posts a round-up and gives away a copy of the book.
Here are a list of my fellow participating bloggers/hosts:
This month our hostess is Renee, author of Tortillas and Honey, selected Ernest J. Gaines' book, A Lesson Before Dying. This book takes place in Louisiana and centers around a man named Jefferson. Jefferson is on death row and is deeply impacted by how he was treated during his trail, and how he was called a "hog". Jefferson has a hard time seeing worth in himself and does not think himself worthy of the food brought to him by his grandmother. Jefferson's grandmother wants him to believe that he is a man and hopes that it will allow him to die with dignity. Eventually, Jefferson accept the offerings and begins to realize that he is a a person who has worth despite what happened to him.
Some of the different dishes offered to Jefferson were, gumbo, fried chicken and pralines. I will be the first to admit that I am not very familiar with preparing traditional southern dishes. However, I am on a cooking board with a few southern ladies and a frequently mentioned dessert when the topic comes to southern cuisine is banana pudding. I love bananas and found a recipe for banana pudding pie and knew it was a perfect submission to my book club.
This pie is really easy to make and I put it together and baked in less than an hour (it does require a few hours to chill). I love a quick dessert recipe and loved the creamy banana filling with the fluffy meringue topping! Ron is not a banana fan, but Kellen and I loved this pie. While I have never made a true banana pudding I felt pretty proud about this and making my own vanilla cream!
Tune in next month to learn about our next book selection and to discover more delicious recipes from our blogging crew!
Ingredients
1 (12-oz.) box vanilla wafers, divided
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 large bananas, sliced
1 recipe of Vanilla Cream Filling
4 egg whites (save the yolks for the filling)
1/2 cup sugar
for vanilla cream filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
4 egg yolks
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the crust, set aside 30 vanilla wafers; pulse remaining vanilla wafers in a food processor until finely crushed. Pour melted butter slowly into the food processor is it processes. Remove, and firmly press on bottom, up sides, and onto lip of a 9-inch pie plate.
Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove and cool 30 minutes.
Arrange banana slices evenly over bottom of crust. Prepare Vanilla Cream Filling (see below), and spread half of hot filling over bananas.Top with 20 vanilla wafers. Spread remaining hot filling over vanilla wafers. (Filling will be about 1/4 inch higher than top edge of crust.)
Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves. Spread meringue evenly over hot filling, sealing the edges.
Bake at 350° for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and let cool 1 hour on a wire rack or until completely cool. Coarsely crush remaining 10 vanilla wafers, and sprinkle evenly over top of pie. Chill 4 hours.
for vanilla cream filling:
Whisk together sugar, flour, eggs, egg yolk and milk in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, 8 to 10 minutes or until it reaches the thickness of chilled pudding. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla.
1 (12-oz.) box vanilla wafers, divided
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 large bananas, sliced
1 recipe of Vanilla Cream Filling
4 egg whites (save the yolks for the filling)
1/2 cup sugar
for vanilla cream filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
4 egg yolks
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the crust, set aside 30 vanilla wafers; pulse remaining vanilla wafers in a food processor until finely crushed. Pour melted butter slowly into the food processor is it processes. Remove, and firmly press on bottom, up sides, and onto lip of a 9-inch pie plate.
Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove and cool 30 minutes.
Arrange banana slices evenly over bottom of crust. Prepare Vanilla Cream Filling (see below), and spread half of hot filling over bananas.Top with 20 vanilla wafers. Spread remaining hot filling over vanilla wafers. (Filling will be about 1/4 inch higher than top edge of crust.)
Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves. Spread meringue evenly over hot filling, sealing the edges.
Bake at 350° for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and let cool 1 hour on a wire rack or until completely cool. Coarsely crush remaining 10 vanilla wafers, and sprinkle evenly over top of pie. Chill 4 hours.
for vanilla cream filling:
Whisk together sugar, flour, eggs, egg yolk and milk in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, 8 to 10 minutes or until it reaches the thickness of chilled pudding. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla.
Giveaway
This month Renee at Tortillas and Honey, this month's host, is giving away a copy of the book. Enter to win a copy of the cookbook so you can join us in future months, if you wish!
One of our lucky readers - US and Canada only! - can enter to win a copy ofThe Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, courtesy of Tarcher-Penguin. Giveaway runs from September 1st till September 30th at 6 o'clock PM, Pacific time. Please see terms and conditions in the rafflecopter widget below. Many thanks to Tarcher Books. You may find Tarcher: on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.
*Disclosure: Renee received a complimentary copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp to use in this year-long project plus the opportunity to give a copy away. Opinions are our own. We received no further compensation for our posts.